Bell YFM Airacuda PDF eBook & Aircraft Flight Manuals

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  • 3 magazines and 2 manuals
  • PDF contains 252 pages
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September 1971 (Plus Revised Version)

  • Whistling Death, F4U Corsair Chief Test Pilot
  • Northrop BT-1, Fleet’s First Modern Diver Bomber
  • Bell’s Futuristic Airacuda, History’s Forgotten Fighter
  • Genealogy of the Tin Goose, Five Decades with the Ford Trimotor

June 1977

  • First Among Equals, RAF Bomber Command
  • Bell Airacuda
  • Douglas B-18
  • Most Elusive Hughes, D-2/F-11 Recon/Bomber

Manuals & Photos

  • Bell YFM-1A Handbook 1940
  • Bell YFM-1/1B Handbook 1940
  • 130 Bell YFM Airacuda photos

Bell YFM Airacuda

  • XFM-1 Specifications

  • Variants

  • Videos

General Characteristics

Bell YFM Diagram

  • Crew: five (pilot, copilot/navigator, radio operator/gunner, two gunners)
  • Length: 44 ft 10 in (13.67 m)
  • Wingspan: 69 ft 10 in (21.29 m)
  • Height: 13 ft 7 in (4.14 m)
  • Wing area: 684 sq ft (63.5 m2)
  • Airfoil: NACA 23018/NACA 23009
  • Empty weight: 13,376 lb (6,067 kg)
  • Gross weight: 17,333 lb (7,862 kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: 21,625 lb (9,809 kg)
  • Fuel capacity: 400 US gal (1,500 L)
  • Powerplant: 2 × Allison V-1710-9 liquid-cooled turbosupercharged V-12, 1,090 hp (810 kW) each
  • Propellers: three-bladed

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 277 mph (446 km/h, 241 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 244 mph (393 km/h, 212 kn)
  • Range: 2,600 mi (4,200 km, 2,300 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 30,500 ft (9,300 m)
  • Rate of climb: 1,480 ft/min (7.5 m/s)

Armament

  • Guns: ** 2 × 37 mm (1.46 in) M4 cannons (110 rpg)
    • 2 × .30 in (7.62 mm) M1919 Browning machine guns in front of nacelles
    • 2 × .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns (600 rpg) in side blisters
  • Bombs: 20 × 30 lb (14 kg) fragmentation bombs in wing bays
  • XFM-1 (Model 1) Prototype powered by two 1,150 hp V-1710-13 engines, one (38-351) built.
  • YFM-1 (Model 7) Development aircraft powered by two 1,150 hp V-1710-23 engines and fitted with 37 mm cannons in wing nacelles, eight built, two later converted to YFM-1B.
  • YFM-1A (Model 8) Development aircraft with tricycle landing gear, three built.
  • YFM-1B YFM-1 re-engined with 1,090 hp V-1710-41 engines, two converted from YFM-1.
  • YFM-1C (Model 17) – proposed variant not proceeded with.